HI-LIFE !Fame, success, or even “the good life,” have long been subjects tossed around in David Kramer’sworks. He seems to spend his time grasping for all of this, all the while mocking himself for hishollow desire. Working from found and personal photographs, Kramer’s drawings and paintingsexpressively portray images of alluring beauty, always juxtaposed to funny one-liners that the artisthas composed through the process of making the piece. These quotes, sharp-tongued critiques, arewindows into Kramer’s pathos. He is constantly questioning his blind faith, his own hubris, like aconscious sociopath.

HEAVY was first produced in 1998, for an exhibition in a warehouse building in Brooklyn, NY. At thetime these issues of seriousness of Art were seldom considered in the previously blightedneighborhood of Williamsburg.

HEAVY is an installation entirely made of fluorescent light tubes. The considerable wiring catchesthe light from the bulbs and creates a cloud-like impression that hangs over the exhibition, loomingabove our heads. By using the word “heavy”, Kramer hopes to draw attention to a cautious reality:“This is Art. It is important.”

THE FOUR HORSEMEN is a rendering of Mt. Rushmore, made of plaster, Styrofoam and wood.Kramer was intrigued by the idea of making a sculpture of a place he had only seen in pictures andnever in real life. Mt. Rushmore is a place that he believed all French people would be familiar withfor its iconic character, despite the fact that most foreigners (and Americans) may not be able toname all of the figures sculpted on the mountain side, nor understand the importance of thesemen’s mark on America’s History.

David Kramer was born in 1963 in New York, where he lives and works.In 2012, he was granted the EESI Award of the city of Angoulême for his exhibition American Exports.His work is part of the Centre Pompidou’s collections.